CONSUMERS' PERCEPTION OF "GEZO" IN ROMANIA: A TRADITIONAL PRODUCT FROM KURDISTAN.

The paper aimed to analyse Romanian consumers' perception towards a traditional product from Kurdistan. For this purpose a research was conducted among consumers of traditional products from Cluj-Napoca City. To achieve the purpose of the study a face to face survey was conducted. The research instrument was divided into 3 main parts: (i) expectation regarding the attributes of traditional product; (ii) perception of "Gezo" a traditional sweet product from Kurdistan; (iii) socio-demographic profile of the respondents. To determine if there are any differences between the perception and expectations regarding the traditional analysed product, a set of 13 items related to product attribute were evaluated on a scale from 1 to 5. The results indicated that the analysed product did not meet the Romanian consumers expectations especially in terms of taste (-1.1) and flavour (-0.22), but were positively appreciated the low content of fats (0.45) and sugars (+0.28). This study represents a first step in analysing the possibility of exporting traditional products outside of Kurdistan, and offers valuable information to adapt future development product strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]